Standing outside her foreclosed Adeline St. home, Gayla Newsome joins about a hundred Occupy Oakland protesters rallying against home foreclosures on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. Newsome said supporters reoccupied her home earlier in the day, four months after sheriff's evicted her family in July. less

Standing outside her foreclosed Adeline St. home, Gayla Newsome joins about a hundred Occupy Oakland protesters rallying against home foreclosures on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. Newsome said ... more

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

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An Occupy Oakland protester, who declined to give his name, hangs signs from Gayla Newsome's foreclosed Adeline St. on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. Newsome said supporters reoccupied the home earlier in the day, four months after sheriff's evicted her family in July. less

An Occupy Oakland protester, who declined to give his name, hangs signs from Gayla Newsome's foreclosed Adeline St. on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. Newsome said supporters reoccupied the home ... more

Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle

Image 3 of 3

Occupy Oakland protesters focus on home foreclosure

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The Occupy movement entered a new phase on Tuesday with a day of marches, rallies and direct actions in more than 20 cities nationwide, including Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose, to draw attention to the home foreclosure crisis.

With the "Occupy Our Homes" events, a movement sometimes criticized for lacking a clear message is focusing on issues - the plight of homeowners facing foreclosure and the lending practices of big banks - that showcase its message of economic inequality.

The Oakland protests, at which demonstrators "reclaimed" foreclosed properties, shouted down foreclosure auctions, waved banners outside banks, and held several rallies and marches, drew dozens of participants. The actions, some of them under the watchful eyes of deputy sheriffs or local police, were peaceful, although they included protesters entering and occupying foreclosed properties owned by banks or other institutions.

"We are diversifying, trying to address issues people find most problematic," said Julia Sebastian, an Oakland social justice activist and a member of Occupy Oakland's Home Defense Committee. "We want to put more pressure on banks and show how they caused this problem."

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On Tuesday evening, Gayla Newsome, a technology salesperson and single mom of three daughters, stood in front of the West Oakland property that she lost to foreclosure in July after a divorce and job loss, and said "I've moved back in," as about 100 protesters chanted and waved signs in support. She declined to say how she regained access to the three-bedroom townhouse.

"I hope to bring visibility to this issue and get the bank to have a conversation with me," she said.

Millions of homes

More than 6 million homes have been seized by banks since 2007 and 8 million more are likely to undergo foreclosure over the next four years, according to a recent report by Michelle Meyer, Bank of America Merrill Lynch senior U.S. economist.

The Obama administration's attempts to address foreclosures through banks voluntarily reducing mortgage payments have helped only a fraction of struggling homeowners, according to banking regulators.

Consumer advocates and community groups want banks to slash mortgage principal and conform to mandatory standards for loan modifications.

Taking a duplex

Chanting "Whose homes? Our homes!," about 100 protesters marched in mid-afternoon from the West Oakland BART Station to a foreclosed duplex on 10th Street near Mandela Parkway that they said they were "taking over" to turn into housing and community space.

The Fannie Mae-owned property sat vacant for six months, said Robbie Clark, of Causa Justa : : Just Cause, a community group that organized the home takeover.

Organizers declined to say how they gained access to the duplex, but its doors stood wide open as protesters milled around the unfurnished rooms. Others lit coals in a barbecue in the front yard.

"We'll keep occupying Fannie Mae homes that are vacant and could be put to good use," Clark said. The group said it will offer a place for people to stay and workshops inside the duplex on foreclosure prevention and other topics.

A place to stay

"The basic message of the 99 percent is that everybody deserves a place to stay, everybody deserves a place they can afford," said James Vann, an Oakland architect. Vann was holding a protest sign on the steps of the Alameda County courthouse at noon while about 40 protesters yelling "Shame on you!" surrounded auctioneers attempting to sell off homes in arrears.

"The courthouse steps are a dramatic, shameful place where a home is passed by anonymous people to anonymous people," said protester Tony Wilkinson, a retired warehouse worker who lives in Berkeley. "Each one of these transactions represents a family and lives. This may be legal, but it's criminal."

"We've been doing this work for years around foreclosures, but now with the Occupy movement it has come to the center," said Beth Kean, a member of ACCE. She said her Maxwell Park neighborhood experienced blight and crime after several homes were foreclosed.

Meanwhile, California Attorney General Kamala Harris on Tuesday said she was partnering with Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to investigate mortgage-industry fraud.

The states, arguably the two most affected by the foreclosure crisis, will share litigation strategies, information and evidence.